Lorem ipsum

Project:

The Nationaltheater Mannheim invited us to develop a hit play that would bring a broader clientele to the theater. For the project – code name "Lorem ipsum" – we adapted the classic Beckett play Waiting for Godot and turned it into Waiting with Godot.

Objective:

As theaters struggle with attracting a younger audience, we were asked to use our know-how to design a play that could become a popular success. Our first step was to analyze the market and to identify which plays had been box-office hits in the past and why. Then we drafted a number of possible plays accordingly. Then we threw those away and started over again. The result: the theater play Waiting with Godot, which explores what the heck Godot was doing while poor Vladimir and Estragon were impatiently awaiting him. Playing cards with his buddies, bantering, and discussing subjects such as metaphysics and cockroaches were only some of the things holding him up. According to the Neue Züricher Zeitung, "One might even want to call it [the play] a magnum opus of humor. The ZIA's humor, however, does not only get at the petty things in life but imbeds questions concerning life and death. And this happens not only as a side effect but is the immediate opposite of all that is tragic."

Contribution:

We analyzed the theater market, participated in various public events discussing the progress of the project, and penned drafts and the final text of the play, which was presented by the Nationaltheater Mannheim at a theatrical reading. For reasons unknown to us, they declined to turn the play into a full-stage production.

Year:

2009

Theatrical reading of Waiting With Godot by actors of the Nationaltheater Mannheim.

Poster design for draft of a play, which was discarded during the project.

Poster design for draft of a play, which was discarded during the project.

Poster design for draft of a play, which was discarded during the project.